Coach/runner at the start says they were making loud speaker announcements 'this is just a drill' with sniffing dogs and active police sweeps. Says the police presence was much more active than he had seen at previous world-level marathons.

Did anyone else hear and notice this?

Who knew what, what did they know, when did they know it and what actions were taken?

I've seen enough to know it's time to fold up the pic nic blanket when they start saying 'don't panic, this is just a drill.'

krispy kremlin wrote:I was a little up-ended by the black van with the swat-looking team sitting in the back that preceded each group of leaders. And this was well out on the course. Anyone else notice /think it odd?

wtf?

krispy kremlin

RE: BAA & Police will have to answer this soon... if you were there, chime in.4/16/2013 1:47PM - in reply to verify.

krispy kremlin wrote:I was a little up-ended by the black van with the swat-looking team sitting in the back that preceded each group of leaders. And this was well out on the course. Anyone else notice /think it odd?

wtf?

Yeah, definitely.. black van, back doors open. Two guys with guns dressed in black fatigues with legs dangling out. Preceded each group of leaders a good distance in front of the clock/media trucks.

verify.

RE: BAA & Police will have to answer this soon... if you were there, chime in.4/16/2013 1:52PM - in reply to krispy kremlin

Legitimate questions are fine, but this seems more like the post-event garbage after Sandy Hook. This is an event with hundreds of thousands of people in a major city. Bomb-sniffing dogs don't surprise me. Maybe the police presence was higher. Maybe this guy was just in a spot yesterday, at the right time, to see what he thought was a larger presence than at other events. The follow up comment with the link to the photo is ridiculous. What doesn't look natural about the photo? You're near the finish line where a larger police presence is going to be. They hear a bomb go off. They run into the street. What is the photo supposed to look like?

ImMad

RE: BAA & Police will have to answer this soon... if you were there, chime in.4/16/2013 1:57PM - in reply to krispy kremlin

I am not shocked at all. It is great that they took preventative measures, as they should always. Hypothetically, they could have had one dog give the, "there's a bomb here somewhere" signal and they were on heightened alert. The dog may have picked up the smell from many, many city blocks away earlier in the day and if the other dogs don't give a similar reaction they are in limbo on how to proceed.

Also, didn't they shut off cell service when the bombs detonated? That is probably protocol when a bomb goes off as it prevents other explosions. If I remember correctly there were reports of many found unexploded devices and one purposefully exploded device yesterday. Whereas, today in the news they claim this is false.

Slanted and Enchanted

RE: BAA & Police will have to answer this soon... if you were there, chime in.4/16/2013 2:01PM - in reply to ImMad

I feel kind of bad saying this, but that is really a cool picture. As you said, it seems very surreal.

Anyway, they have already come out and said there were no hunches. I expect that any large event like Boston is going to have ridiculous security now that the Federal Gov is handing out cash for security like it is monopoly money.

krispy kremlin

RE: BAA & Police will have to answer this soon... if you were there, chime in.4/16/2013 2:05PM - in reply to ImMad

I am not shocked at all. It is great that they took preventative measures, as they should always. Hypothetically, they could have had one dog give the, "there's a bomb here somewhere" signal and they were on heightened alert. The dog may have picked up the smell from many, many city blocks away earlier in the day and if the other dogs don't give a similar reaction they are in limbo on how to proceed.

Also, didn't they shut off cell service when the bombs detonated? That is probably protocol when a bomb goes off as it prevents other explosions. If I remember correctly there were reports of many found unexploded devices and one purposefully exploded device yesterday. Whereas, today in the news they claim this is false.

The denial of undetonated explosions that I'm hearing today do strike me as a little odd.

I'm.not a conspiracy-theory kind of person but I hold to my earlier comment about the black van with the armed dudes sitting out the back. I mentioned it to my friend standing beside me at the time and then didn't think about it again. Perhaps this is common every year and I just happened to notice it this year.

smd

RE: BAA & Police will have to answer this soon... if you were there, chime in.4/16/2013 2:12PM - in reply to ImMad

The training dogs have been there every year I've done Boston - 9 years. Both at the Athlete's Village and at the finish line. At the AV, the PA guy makes the same announcement every year about asking the handlers before you pet the dogs.

basic journalism wrote:Coach/runner at the start says they were making loud speaker announcements 'this is just a drill' with sniffing dogs and active police sweeps. Says the police presence was much more active than he had seen at previous world-level marathons.

Did anyone else hear and notice this?

Who knew what, what did they know, when did they know it and what actions were taken?

I've seen enough to know it's time to fold up the pic nic blanket when they start saying 'don't panic, this is just a drill.'

Yes - this. There is always serious security at the start and finish of most major urban marathons, including dogs. The people worked up in a frenzy over this stuff, I suspect, are people who don't spend time in cities, haven't run major marathons before, or are conspiracy wackjobs. Or all three.

Sesamoiditis

RE: BAA & Police will have to answer this soon... if you were there, chime in.4/16/2013 2:24PM - in reply to krispy kremlin

I am not shocked at all. It is great that they took preventative measures, as they should always. Hypothetically, they could have had one dog give the, "there's a bomb here somewhere" signal and they were on heightened alert. The dog may have picked up the smell from many, many city blocks away earlier in the day and if the other dogs don't give a similar reaction they are in limbo on how to proceed.

Also, didn't they shut off cell service when the bombs detonated? That is probably protocol when a bomb goes off as it prevents other explosions. If I remember correctly there were reports of many found unexploded devices and one purposefully exploded device yesterday. Whereas, today in the news they claim this is false.

The denial of undetonated explosions that I'm hearing today do strike me as a little odd.

I'm.not a conspiracy-theory kind of person but I hold to my earlier comment about the black van with the armed dudes sitting out the back. I mentioned it to my friend standing beside me at the time and then didn't think about it again. Perhaps this is common every year and I just happened to notice it this year.

I have watched the marathon the past two years and the van with the guards was there both years.

akdkalala

RE: BAA & Police will have to answer this soon... if you were there, chime in.4/16/2013 2:27PM - in reply to krispy kremlin

I don't think it's odd. Bomb squad typically blow up more people's lunches than real bombs because someone gets spooked by a suspicious bag. Think how many bags or backpacks must have been around yesterday and how many people must have dropped when the panic hit.

there is no safety

RE: BAA & Police will have to answer this soon... if you were there, chime in.4/16/2013 2:30PM - in reply to ImMad

That pic is misleading with your comments as if the police were waiting for a bomb to explode. Watch the video footage and you'll see what happens. The man on the ground is a great 78yo runner from Washington state. He's the only runner that hit the ground. And you can watch the police move into place as trained, but in surprise of what happened.

As to the undetonated explosions, that was media confusion, by words misunderstood from Boston police. Boston police had said something to the effect that they had found two explosive devices. They were referring to the 2 bombs that exploded. But those words were misunderstood by some in the media as if two unexploded devices had been found. I don't know why Boston police worded it this way, other than maybe to clarify the explosions weren't accidents such as a gas leak.